Tumi releases guilt, Ruben goes home

Published 4:54 pm, Tuesday, November 12, 2013

This week our local "Biggest Loser" contestant Tumi Oguntala of Clifton Park posted a 7-pound weight loss on the scale and released a lifetime of anger and guilt when she received a bit of airtime with her team trainer Jillian Michaels.

Oguntala's guilt, from losing her mother and her family, was being suppressed with food, leading her to the ranch. While Tumi got to stay for another week, the end shocked everyone when Ruben Studdard (of "American Idol") fell below the red line and was sent home. We shared your questions with Oguntala on Monday, before the airing of the show's fifth week.

Q: How did you learn which exercises work best for you and your weight loss efforts?

A: The Bodymedia armbands that we wear help us understand which exercises burn the most calories per minute, so that's a great way to figure out which exercises make the best use of your time on the ranch.

Q: Jillian pulled you aside this week to better understand what brought you to the ranch. Do you think it was a breakthrough moment for you? Did anything else happen that we didn't see? What did you take away from the conversation that could help others?

A: My experiences as a child made it very difficult for me to trust. Jillian saw that I required a gentle touch and that she couldn't push too hard. I think her patience and kindness over time is what made a breakthrough possible for me, and I think that's a great lesson for us all.

Q: What is a typical day at the ranch like? What are you eating? Any treats?

A: For me a typical day at the ranch is waking between 4:30 to 5:00 a.m., working out for three hours, eating a high-protein breakfast, and then getting ready for whatever the show had in store for us; a trainer workout or challenge. I would end the day with a long or short workout depending on how many calories I needed to reach my goal for a total of 7-9 hours of exercise daily. I ate mostly lean protein and unlimited green vegetables with very little sodium all from organic producers. A treat for me is strawberries, watermelon, or blended fruit with ice and stevia.

Q: Have you bonded with any of the other contestants, and do you guys get to hang out with the trainers beyond during training time?

A: The contestants all live together on the ranch, so we have absolutely bonded. When we did get to leave the ranch for a movie or shopping it was always together, so we got to hang out together quite a bit and, of course, there's always working out, which we did together a lot both with and without the trainers.